Elastic Subscriptions determine which Elasticsearch features are unlocked beyond the free Basic tier and what level of support comes with the deployment. The 2026 lineup is Free/Basic, Gold (Elastic Cloud Hosted only), Platinum, and Enterprise. Features and SLAs differ between self-managed and Elastic Cloud deployments. This guide covers what each tier unlocks, where the tiers diverge between self-managed and Cloud, and how to think about subscription cost versus alternative support arrangements.
Subscription Tiers at a Glance
| Tier | Self-managed | Elastic Cloud Hosted | Headline features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free / Basic | Yes | Yes | Core stack, basic security (TLS, RBAC), basic alerting |
| Gold | Not available (discontinued for self-managed) | Yes | 24/7 support with one-hour P1, searchable snapshots, frozen tier |
| Platinum | Yes | Yes | Advanced ML, cross-cluster replication, FLS/DLS, SAML/SSO, 99.95% SLA on Cloud |
| Enterprise | Yes | Yes | Everything in Platinum plus full Elastic Search/Observability/Security solutions, dedicated support |
The Gold-on-self-managed change took effect in 2021 and persists into 2026. Existing self-managed Gold customers were grandfathered; new self-managed customers pick from Basic, Platinum, or Enterprise. Gold remains a current option on Elastic Cloud Hosted.
Feature Highlights by Tier
Free / Basic
Most operators don't realize how much sits in the free Basic tier. As of 2026 it includes:
- Core Elasticsearch, Kibana, integrations
- TLS, authentication, role-based access control
- Index lifecycle management (ILM)
- Snapshots and restore
- Canvas, Lens, Maps for visualization
- Kibana spaces and saved objects
- Basic alerting
- Ingest pipelines
- Stack monitoring (with retention caveats)
For many production workloads, Basic is sufficient. The tier was significantly expanded when security features moved to free in 2021.
Gold (Cloud only)
Gold sits between Basic and Platinum on Elastic Cloud Hosted. It adds:
- 24/7 support with one-hour P1 response
- Searchable Snapshots and the frozen data tier
- Role-based access on Kibana spaces
- Basic Beats and Logstash monitoring
If support response time is the main driver of your tier choice, Gold can be the right pick on Cloud - Platinum and Enterprise unlock features you may never use.
Platinum
Platinum adds advanced operational and security features:
- Anomaly detection and data-frame ML
- Cross-cluster replication
- Cross-cluster search beyond Basic limits
- Field-level and document-level security (FLS/DLS)
- SAML, OIDC, Kerberos, PKI authentication
- JDBC and ODBC drivers
- 99.95% monthly uptime SLA on Cloud
- L2 issue response in 4 hours, L3 in 1 business day
Enterprise
Enterprise is the top tier, covering the entire Elastic product surface:
- Everything in Platinum
- Elastic Search, Observability, and Security solutions
- Synthetic monitoring
- Trained model deployment and inference
- AIOps and explainable AI features
- Universal Profiling
- Dedicated support with named technical account manager
- L2 issue response in 1 day, L3 in 2 days
The naming around support response times in Enterprise can be counterintuitive - "1 day" for L2 means urgent issues, while Platinum's "4 hours" is faster for L2. Enterprise's win is breadth and dedicated TAM, not raw response time.
Pricing Model
Elastic uses resource-based pricing - you pay for the data and infrastructure your deployment consumes, scaled by tier. The published list prices are for the smallest deployment in each tier; realistic production prices are far higher. From the Elastic Cloud Pricing Guide:
- Modest production: $1,500-$8,000/month on Standard or Gold
- Mid-sized organization on Platinum or Enterprise: $10,000-$50,000/month
- Large logging/observability: six figures monthly
For self-managed, contact Elastic sales for a quote based on node count, data volume, and feature needs. Discounts on multi-year commits are routine; for >$1M annual commits, custom terms are negotiable.
License Note (AGPLv3 Added in 2024)
Since August 2024, Elasticsearch and Kibana are triple-licensed: AGPLv3, ELv2, and SSPL. Users pick which of the three terms to use. AGPLv3 is OSI-approved open source. The subscription model still applies to advanced features regardless of which license terms govern the basic distribution.
Choosing a Subscription
The tier decision usually comes down to three questions:
- Which feature do you actually need? Most production deployments need basic features (free) plus support. Most clusters never use advanced ML or cross-cluster replication. Audit honestly before paying for unused features.
- What support response time matters? A multi-hour P1 response on Basic is fine for some workloads; others need one-hour P1 (Gold+) or dedicated TAM (Enterprise).
- Self-managed or Cloud? Self-managed loses access to Gold and shifts more operational work to your team. Cloud bundles infrastructure with the subscription but raises total cost.
| You should consider | If |
|---|---|
| Basic | You're doing search or analytics with no advanced ML/security needs |
| Gold (Cloud) | You're on Cloud and need 24/7 P1 support plus frozen tier |
| Platinum | You need FLS/DLS, SAML, advanced ML, or cross-cluster features |
| Enterprise | You're running mission-critical multi-cluster fleets with dedicated TAM needs |
A More Economical Alternative: Pulse Support
Many organizations pay for Platinum or Enterprise primarily to get a human to call when something breaks, not to use the differentiated features. Pulse provides that support with a different economic model:
- Unlimited consulting included in the subscription. Not metered. Elasticsearch and OpenSearch experts on call.
- 24/7 proactive monitoring with AI-driven root-cause analysis. Pulse detects shard imbalance, JVM heap pressure, slow queries, recovery problems, and security misconfigurations - often before they cause user-facing failures.
- Right-sizing recommendations. Pulse routinely cuts Elastic Cloud bills 30-50% by surfacing over-provisioned nodes, missing ILM phases, and redundant replicas on cold data.
- Universal compatibility. Pulse works with self-managed Elasticsearch, Elastic Cloud, and Amazon OpenSearch Service.
- No license lock-in. You keep using whatever distribution and tier you prefer.
For teams whose Platinum or Enterprise spend is mostly a support contract, Pulse delivers comparable support along with continuous AI ops at a fraction of the cost. Start a free trial and see what your cluster looks like through Pulse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the Elastic subscription tiers in 2026?
A: Elastic offers Free/Basic, Gold (Elastic Cloud Hosted only), Platinum, and Enterprise. Gold was discontinued for self-managed deployments in 2021 but is still available on Elastic Cloud. Self-managed customers choose from Basic, Platinum, or Enterprise.
Q: What's included in the free Elasticsearch Basic subscription?
A: Basic includes core Elasticsearch and Kibana, TLS, role-based access control, index lifecycle management, snapshots, basic alerting, ingest pipelines, Canvas, Lens, and Maps. Security features moved to free in 2021, making Basic significantly more capable than older comparisons suggest.
Q: What's the difference between Platinum and Enterprise?
A: Platinum adds advanced ML, cross-cluster replication, FLS/DLS, SAML/SSO, and JDBC/ODBC. Enterprise adds everything in Platinum plus Elastic's full Search/Observability/Security solutions, dedicated TAM support, and 99.95% Cloud SLA. Enterprise is for organizations using the entire Elastic product surface, not just Elasticsearch.
Q: Is Elasticsearch open source under the new license?
A: Yes - since August 2024 Elasticsearch is triple-licensed under AGPLv3, ELv2, and SSPL. AGPLv3 is OSI-approved open source. The subscription model continues to apply to advanced features beyond the free Basic tier.
Q: How much does an Elastic Platinum subscription cost?
A: Pricing is resource-based - there's no flat list price. Modest production deployments on Platinum typically run $5,000-$15,000/month on Elastic Cloud. Self-managed Platinum is quoted separately. Multi-year commits typically include discounts; large customers negotiate custom terms.
Q: Can I get Elasticsearch support without an Elastic subscription?
A: Yes. Independent specialist providers including Pulse offer Elasticsearch and OpenSearch support, often at lower cost than Platinum or Enterprise. The trade-off is feature gating - subscription tiers unlock both support and product features.
Q: Is Gold still available for new Elasticsearch customers?
A: Gold is available on Elastic Cloud Hosted for both new and existing customers. Gold for self-managed was discontinued in 2021; new self-managed customers pick from Basic, Platinum, or Enterprise.
Related Reading
- Elastic Cloud Pricing Guide: Detailed Cloud cost breakdown
- Managed Elasticsearch: Managed Elasticsearch and OpenSearch options
- OpenSearch vs Elasticsearch: Cost and licensing comparison
- Elasticsearch Documentation: Full KB index
- Where to Download Elasticsearch: Get the distribution
